Mecenary Loyalties
by Polo Smurf
Summary: Set 5 years before the Knight's have been given their freedom. An unusual mission brings new companions to work alongside with interesting consequences. Most knights OC's
1. A Start

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the plot and a few characters of my own. Pointless suing me - I'm broke anyway!

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Chapter 1 : _The Start_

In the latter stages of midsummer, in the land of Briton, or Britannia to the Romans, the last of the harvest was brought in under the watchful eye of the simmering day star.

Peasants worked the land alongside the oxen whilst Roman infantry and the famous Sarmation knights sparred amongst each other, exercised their animals or took advantage of the long days to rest their weary limbs.

It was on one of these lazy autumnal days that a young boy rode into the fort along the Great Wall that housed these men. The horse he rode was steaming and blowing heavily, both man-child and beast were covered in dirt and dust from the hard roads.

"A message for Sir Arthur," the boy wheezed, as a crowd formed "from General Septimus Orinious IV, very urgent!"

The boy managed these words before collapsing where he stood.

---------

400 miles away a similarly exhausted young lad also collapsed after giving an almost identical speech to a group of worried stable lads.

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Just a start! I've got an idea to play with at any rate!  
Any comments, don't be nasty!  
xCx 


	2. Traps

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the plot and a few characters of my own. Pointless suing me - I'm broke anyway! 

Notes: Garcian is pronounced gar - thee - an.

Reviews: Thanks to my first reviewers: LANELOTTRISTANBABY and BlackPaintedWhite

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Chapter 2 :_Traps_

"We must send for reinforcements my lord, we can not win this fight on our own, and if we wait any longer the fort will fall and it will be too late. Please my lord send out riders."

"I sent them out 3 days ago"

"And so the messengers are dead, we have no hope."

"Don't be a fool boy, if they rode hard they'll have reached help, help will have had to prepare and then get here still with strength to fight. There is no reason to despair yet. At best they will arrive today or tomorrow."

"It will be too late. The blue demons kill so many there will be none left tomorrow, our rescuers will be saving corpses not men."

"They will be here and we will still live when they do come. Now aren't some men working on reinforcing the doors? I suggest you join them and lend a hand. If we can keep them from breaching the walls we have a fighting chance to be alive in the morn."

"Of course my lord, but I am not the only one despairing, if you could say something to the men perhaps we would all be better off."

"I'll see. You're dismissed."

"Yes my lord. Good day my lord."

General Septimus Orinious IV slumped in his chair once the young soldier had left the room. The boy was right of course, the men were dispirited and scared, the forces at his disposal were now less than half of what they had been a week ago.

He could only hope the missives he had sent had reached Sir Arthur and Commander Antonius and that both men's forces rode as fast and fought as hard as the stories said they did.

Nothing but the best was going to beat this army of woads and Romans who had revolted against their commanders and had overrun the fort 10 miles away from Septimus' own.

The fierceness of the native forces combined with the knowledge and strategy of the Romans. A formidable opponent at the best of times, even more so now that he knew he had less than 150 men against the 400 outside the walls.

It was possible to be optimistic in front of the men but once alone the vastness of despair one again came back to him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A mere 5 miles from this battle, a scout returned to his leader.

"Arthur, the fort is 5 miles south east and another force approaches from the west."

"Is the approaching force enemy or ally?"

"I was unable to tell, their commander wears the cloak of Rome but the others are cloaked in a darker colour. I could not make out the insignia on their shields. They are 20 strong."

"Thank you Tristan. I'll think we'll intercept this approaching force. Commander Antonius was supposed to be arriving from the south west so it is possible it could be them."

"Or someone who has ambushed them and is disguised as them."

"What a lovely thought Tristan! Either way we'll find out who they are. Lead the way."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In a small forest, a group of warriors that were officially under the command of Antonius Garcian waited quietly in the gathering dusk. The only noise, the breathing of the men and their beasts, and the occasional creak of leather or scrape of armour.

In this quiet atmosphere the hoof beats of 16 horses were perceived as soon as they came into hearing. A few horses in the woods shifted but a murmur from their riders kept them still again until those 16 horses came into sight.

They were led by a tall imposing man in full roman armour, which proclaimed his station among others. Beside the leader was a dark man with hair tangled into haphazard braids and a hawk on one arm. Following them, the remaining 14 Sarmation Knights rode in pairs.

As these men entered the woods they slowed to a trot and the group waiting there finally moved. Slowly, carefully and quietly they worked their way around the Sarmations and their commander, so when the company came to a halt at the word of their scout, they were completely surrounded.

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How do you like?  
Any comments, don't be too nasty!  
xCx 


	3. Allies

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the plot and a few characters of my own. Pointless suing me - I'm broke anyway! 

Notes: Garcian is pronounced gar - thee - an.  
I know Ector is Kay's father, but poetic licence and all that!

Reviews: Thanks to LovelyHeidi and again to BlackPaintedWhite!

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Chapter 3 : _Allies_

"Arthur, we're being tracked."

"Woads?"

"No."

"Where?"

"They've surrounded us"

15 eyes stared at the scout disbelievingly. Lancelot was the first to speak.

"Hang on. You mean our famous scout who can spot a woad at 5 miles led us into a trap? Have you gone mad!" His voice got louder as he spoke.

"Lancelot, be quiet," growled Perceval, "would you like to give them an in invitation to attack?"

Lancelot scowled in response. A few knights smirked.

"So, we have Lancelot. Second in command to Sir Artorious Castus. Correct?"

"Oh shut up Bors." snarled Lancelot.

"Eh? I didn't say anything!" Bors replied.

"Bors and Lancelot, both in command of Sir Artorious Castus. Anyone else going to introduce themselves? The Scout for instance, does he have a name?"

"Tristan." The scout replied to thin air, looking around the surrounding trees warily.

A chuckle came in reply. A few knights jumped in response.

"Only a coward seeks to intimidate whilst hidden. Why will you not speak to us as true men. Face to face. What do you have to hide? Cowards." Kay barked into the thin air.

In response to Kay's words, shapes began to materialise amongst the trees and bushes. Cloaked figures mounted on horses with strange beasts around some of the horses legs and winged creatures on some figures arms.

"Nice one Kay," murmured his brother Ector, "now what have you gotten us into?"

"Kay," replied one of the figures, "well that's five down only eleven unnamed!"

"Ah, give the lads a break, Col, we've got to work with them, I for one would rather not have them willing to murder us in our sleep because you want to wind them up." muttered another figure.

"Spoilsport!" The first man uttered in return. A few of the others chuckled.

"Commander Antonius?" Arthur questioned the second man.

"That would be me." Said a man three figures to the left of the one named Col. He pulled down his hood and urged his horse toward Arthur's, a hand held out in welcome.

"And you would be Arthur. Yes?"

"I am."

As Arthur grasped the hand that was held out to him in greeting he looked into the face in front of him.

He saw a man that was probably around 20 years older than himself. A handsome face even though it was marred with a scar that ran straight down the right side of his face, from the corner of his eye to the bottom of his jaw, about an inch below the ear. Dark blue eyes that held the memories of many horrors, but right this moment were filled with not a little humour. His mouth was quirked up on one side and his grip was firm.

"Is there any reason you decided to surround us? Or is this your idea of amusement?" Arthur scowled at his fellow Roman commander. Unable to forget the small stab of uneasiness the first sight of the figures had caused him.

"A bit of both," came the reply, the quirk growing to a small smile, "we thought it was you but it could've been men in disguise. It's a common ambush and I don't like to take the risk. As for amusement, you should have seen your faces! And for the record," he said turning to face Kay, his face growing serious, "don't ever call this lot cowards," he indicated the men still surrounding the knights, "they've seen and done things you can't even imagine, so watch your mouth or they'll turn on you."

"You make it sound as if we're a pack of rabid wolves!" Said a figure at the back of the circle

"Well in the tavern you do a damn good impression of being an insatiable one" another threw in reply.

Most of the figures broke into chuckles at this, including the commander. He turned back to Arthur.

"Come, Sir Arthur. There's a nice place to camp a little further along this trail. We can discuss things better there and everyone could do with the rest."

"Lead the way Commander."

"No. Ride beside me"

"I'd be glad to."

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How do you like?  
Any comments, don't be too nasty!  
xCx 


	4. Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the plot and a few characters of my own. Pointless suing me - I'm broke anyway! 

Notes: I know Ector is Kay's father, but poetic licence and all that!  
Gaheris and Gawain are brothers, the other two being dead by this time. (Gareth and Agravaine)  
The knights are 10 years into their service to Rome.  
I worked on the assumption that there were 25 original knights plus Arthur 26 the amount of seats at the Round Table in the film! If I'm wrong we will accept that my maths are dodgy and it will still be 26!  
Sad aren't I!

Reviews: Thanks to my loyal reviewers LANCELOTTRISTANBABY and BlackPaintedWhite - "much anticipation" indeed!

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Chapter 4 : _Introductions_

The clearing that the two groups of men set up camp in was large enough to give them open space, yet still kept the shelter of overhanging branches. A small river ran about 200 yards away from the clearing, far enough to be heard but not seen.

At first the clearing was a hive of activity, the horses were watered and washed down before being tied or set loose depending on it's rider. Packs were thrown to the ground as were saddles, blankets were separated and some secured these to their horses.

The beasts that had been around the legs of the horses earlier, were revealed to be hounds with grey shaggy fur, lanky bodies as well as long teeth and dark eyes. The knights vowed to give these animals a wide berth for the evening.

The same could be said for the large black bird which hopped around them. It's beady little eyes taking everything in and it's wings flapping occasionally when it jumped forward, hinting at an impressive wingspan.

The other birds appeared to be more typical hunting birds a few hawks and some smaller birds the knights took to be falcons. These birds were set among the low branches of a tree, whilst the wolf-hounds settled at the base of it, apparently satisfied with their resting place.

The big black bird was not. It continued to toddle around the camp, poking its beak into packs and pulling at tack until one of Antonius' men gave it a gentle nudge with his boot in the direction of the other animals. The bird flapped a few times and cocked his head at the soldier. The man chuckled at it's antics and pointed toward the tree with his hand, still looking at the odd bird. It flapped again before turning to shuffle off to the tree.

The knights looked on bemused, but this was apparently a usual happening by the attitudes of the other soldiers. They would not interfere.

A few men set out for firewood, another 2 with bows for a quick hunt. The rest resigned themselves to laying out bedrolls and rolling old logs in a circle around what would soon become a blazing campfire.

Commander Antonius took Sir Arthur to a place where there was a little more of the fast fading light, due to a gap in foliage, and took out a map of the area. Both commanders settled themselves on convenient tree stumps with the map between them. Heads bent over it and a rapid Latin discussion commenced between them.

Their backs to their men, they couldn't see the others faces, although if pressed they could probably have guessed accurately the expressions on each warrior's face.

"Oh dear gods," groaned one of Antonius' men as he removed his cloak, "not another one." He turned towards the Sarmations, gesturing toward Arthur, "Is he always like that?"

"Pretty much always," replied Perceval, not even looking to see who the man was referring to, "we have to drag him away from his maps and reports just to get him to the tavern."

"Super, just brilliant," grumbled another of the men, also removing his cloak, "we have no ale, no decent beds, no women andtwo obsessed commanders. Just great!"

"What am I then? Roasted Ox?" Came a husky voice from behind him.

The man stepped forward, startled.

"Well no… I just…I mean… you're not… you wouldn't…!" he stuttered at the figure, who whilst still wearing the concealing cloak as most of the others still were, had an armful of firewood.

"Stop digging your hole Banin," the first soldier said, clapping a hand on the other man's shoulder, "Sham's just winding you up, we all know you just meant there's no barmaids, and Sham isn't going to share any alcohol!"

"I don't share the alcohol, because I don't like fighting alongside you lot when you're drunk," chuckled Sham, "and because it's too strong for you louts!"

"Now you wait just a minute…" Banin started, but Sham had already gone to dump the wood, "Oh that little…" He walked off grumbling to himself.

The remaining soldier laughed quietly at the younger man before turning back to the 3 knights who still stood with him.

"My apologies, I am Priamus. The young man was Banin and the one with firewood is Sham. The two others at the campfire are Galehaut and Pelleas. And you are…?" The man let the question hang in the air whilst gazing at them with a singularly unnerving gaze.

"I am Perceval," the large knight spoke up first, gesturing to each of his companions in turn, "this is Dagonet and Gaheris. The two at the fire with yours are Ector and his brother Kay. The two just returning from hunting are Tristan and Galahad"

"Thank you. I believe we will pick up other names as the evening passes. Yes?"

The four men began to walk toward the newly started fire. Companionable silence between them reigned until they reached the fire itself. Just as Priamus was about to lend a hand with the food, Gaheris detained him with a hand on the elder man's arm.

"How is it that you seem so unlike almost every Roman I've come across?"

Priamus stared at the young Sarmation with his unnerving dark blue eyes for what seemed like a long time. Gaheris dropped his gaze slightly, no longer able to hold it against this man. His hold on Priamus' arm also dropped but the man didn't move away. He looked at his comrades in arms, his gaze lingering on Sham and his Commander, before turning back to Gaheris.

"Bar our commander, we are not Roman," he paused, anticipating the next question, before it could be asked he said, "almost every one of us is Greek."

With these words the man turned and strode away to help Galahad skin one of his catches.

"I suppose that would account for it." Gaheris muttered, as he and his fellow knights watched the unusual man for a moment longer before turning to their own duties.

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How do you like? 

I've finally got real characters to play with - funfun!

Any comments, don't be too nasty!  
xCx


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